Family vs Familiarity
by ROSSELLA1
Summary: Thorin wasn't always a father-figure to Fili and Kili. However, one little mistake the boys made changed that.


Ch. 1  
By ROSSELLA1  
Note: I do not own the Hobbit, LOTR, or any of their characters. In this story, Kili and Fili are about the ages of what, in human years, would be 3 and 8.

As long as Kili could remember, there had always been one ironclad Rule (besides not leaving Ered Luin without permission or playing in the armory, of course): Don't bother Uncle Thorin. It wasn't that Uncle Thorin didn't love them, their mother had told them, but Uncle Thorin was very busy with important things and didn't always have time to play with Fili and Kili. What would happen if they broke this Rule, their mother didn't say. But, judging by the importance she placed on it, Kili was sure that the consequences were horrible. However, Kili didn't mind the Rule. After all, he barely knew his mother's brother. Oh, he loved his Uncle. Thorin was always kind to Fili and Kili when he did see them. But, except for holidays and birthdays, the two Princes were lucky to see their Uncle for as little as five minutes a week and, even then, Uncle Thorin was usually in a hurry and talked more to their mother than to them. It didn't bother Fili and Kili; they had never known anything different. This was just the way things were.

So, when Kili woke up that morning, he wasn't thinking about breaking the Rule. All he was thinking about was one o'clock. That was when Fili got done his classes and got to come play with him. The youngest Prince spent his time coloring with his nurse, anxiously looking at the sun-dial on his balcony, waiting for it to reach the precise point… until, finally, the door to his bedroom and opened.

With a grin, Kili leapt up and, deaf to his nurse's pleas to put his shoes on first, ran with his brother down the corridor. The two first played hide-and seek in the Gardens and, then, went down to the Kitchens to steal cookies when the Kitchen staff weren't looking. But, soon enough, they got caught and were told to run along and play, lest they spoil their dinner. So, Kili and Fili returned to the upper levels to play tag.

It was quite by accident what happened next. Fili was It and all Kili meant to do was run away from him. He certainly hadn't meant to break the Rule. The younger of the two Princes was running and running. He could hear Fili's footsteps close behind him and knew that if he didn't hurry up, Fili would catch him. He rounded a corner and saw that, up ahead, the hallway ended! There were no more turns to make, only a door. Well, that would have to do. Speeding up, Kili grabbed the handle, swung the door open, burst into the room, and slammed the door shut, trying to slow Fili down. But, when he looked up, he skidded to a stop.

Kili was not alone. In the middle of the room was a square table, surrounded by grown-ups. And worse, at the head of the table, seated next to Mr. Balin and Mr. Dwalin, was Uncle Thorin.

Behind Kili, the door opened and Fili caught up to him. "Gotcha! You're-" He stopped, seeing what Kili saw.

They didn't have to look at each other to know what the other was thinking. Now they'd get it. They'd broken the Rule. They'd clearly interrupted a very important meeting. No doubt they'd soon be punished. Maybe they'd be thrown in the dungeons and not allowed to eat for a week. Or maybe they'd be fed to an orc. Or maybe…but one of the older dwarves was rising from his seat and approaching them with an angry look on his face. Instinctively, Kili reached out to hold Fili's hand.

"This is a very important meeting, my Princes. You should not be here." The dwarf lectured.

"W-we're sorry." Fili stammered next to him. Kili just scrunched his eyes shut so he wouldn't need to see whatever was going to happen to them. "W-w-we were just playing tag and didn't-"

"This is no place for games. You-"

"It's alright, Lord Khim." A deep, familiar voice said, and Kili opened his eyes. It was Uncle Thorin who had spoken.

"But," Lord Khim said, "your-"

"Sit down. Fili. Kili. Come here." Uncle Thorin called, looking at them. Still hold his brother's hand, Kili walked forward, until they were standing in front of their Uncle.

He didn't look too mad, Kili thought. Perhaps they'd just be grounded.

"Now, what are you two doing here?" Uncle Thorin said, looking down at them.

"We-we were playin' tag."Kili spoke up. Now that he felt a bit braver, he felt that maybe he should explain. After all, he had come here first. "Fi-fili was it and I d-didin' have anywhere else to run, so I camed in here. W-we didin'mean to b-botha you. W-we're s-sawy."

Their Uncle smiled down at them and Kili thought it was a nice smile. Maybe he wouldn't punish them at all. "There's no need to apologize. We were actually just about to take a break."

"But, your Highness-" Lord Khim spoke up again.

"Everyone take a break." Uncle Thorin spoke over him. "Be back here in fifteen minutes." He rose to his feet and Kili found Fili and he being scooped up into his Uncle's arms. "Let's get you somewhere where you can have fun." He walked with them out the door and down the hallway. "Where do you usually go to play?"

Fili shrugged. "Places."

Uncle Thorin laughed. "Well, what _place_ would you like to go now?"

"I don't know."

"How about the Gardens?"

Kili wrinkled his nose. "We've been there today."

"Do you have any toys in your rooms?"

"We had to stay inside yesterday." Fili sighed. "It was raining."

"Well, what about the Library?" Thorin suggested.

"I can't read." Kili reminded him.

"And all the books in there are boring." Fili added.

Thorin slowed to a stop, looking down at them. "Well," he seemed to be thinking, "don't you have anywhere else to go?"

They looked at each other and shook their heads. "They caughts us in the kitchen." Kili said, before he could remember that they weren't supposed to be stealing food. But Uncle Thorin didn't look to mad.

"And mother says we're not allowed to go into the dungeons or the armory. She says it's dangerous."

"She's very right." Uncle Thorin told them. He was quiet for a moment and Kili wondered if he was angry with them, after all. Then, "Well, I suppose it wouldn't be too bad if you came back to the meeting with me. We're almost finished. I'd say another hour or so."

"Really, Uncle?" Fili burst out, looking excited as Kili felt.

"It would be very boring." Thorin warned.

"We don't care!" Fili replied.

"We've never been to a _meeting_ befaw!" Kili exclaimed. He'd heard of them but never been allowed in one and it held an exotic appeal for him.

Thorin looked amused. "Well, if you can keep the talking down, you can stay for the rest of it."

"Yay!" Fili cheered.

"You're nice, Unca Thorin!" Kili told his Uncle, sincerely, and for some reason this made Thorin laugh.

Uncle Thorin turned around and walked with them back to the room. He told them that they could play on the floor and play, as long as they could keep silent. When the other dwarves returned, most of them looked surprised to see Fili and Kili still there, but none of them said anything.

Fili and Kili, for their parts, sat on the floor, quietly listening to the dwarves talk and trying to decipher the meaning behind the political words. After fifteen minutes of this (which is quite a long time for any dwarrow to sit still), they became bored and started playing hand-games and drawing shapes in the dust on the floor. I am afraid they weren't nearly as quiet, then, as they thought that they were. However, their Uncle Thorin never said anything to them and the rest of the dwarves were too wise to speak up.


End file.
